


I saw god and the devil dancing in the land of the sun

by gattara_spirit



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Uzumaki Mito, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Warring States Period (Naruto), if kishimoto wasn’t a coward we could have had it all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26876110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gattara_spirit/pseuds/gattara_spirit
Summary: Mito would always be a traditional woman. She held secrets, feared the gods, burned bodies and destroyed her enemies.You don’t need to overpower them. You just have to outlast them.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	I saw god and the devil dancing in the land of the sun

As she watched the fight from what could be considered a safe distance – though there was not such a thing as a safe distance when it came to those two -, Mito knew she would never achieve that raw battle power. Which was fine, by her.

She had no need for such brute force. She was a sealing master and a noble woman and, more importantly, an Uzumaki. 

_You don’t need to overpower them._

There were things not even the most powerful of men were able to accomplish. That’s where Mito succeeded; she was not the most powerful and neither was she a man – she was Uzumaki Mito, descendant of the maelstroms, heir to the knowledge of the women before her, master to all their seals and symbols, successor to all their rage. 

She would do what Hashirama and Madara couldn’t: _rule the beast._

(Madara could force his will on the Nine Tails and Hashirama was able to contain it, but their abilities were not long lasting. They would never be able to make it last. Mito and her seals, on the other hand, _could._ )

When her soon-to-be husband dealt the last blow on his opponent, she headed to his direction. His wellbeing was one of the matters she should attend to, as his soon-to-be wife and as her duty to her leader. His mokuton was strong enough to contain the beast for a little while.

He passed out from exhaustion, but was otherwise fine. Mito arranged his body as well as she could in between the rocks and turned her eyes to Madara’s body. It was a bleeding mess of cuts and holes, his hair covering most of his back.

Respect for the dead made her move him to lie with his back down and curiosity made her realize he wasn’t a dead man at all.

Hashirama _missed_ the blow that should have impaled Madara through the heart. If it was destiny choosing to save the man or the Senju’s mercy, she didn’t know. What she knew is that the Uchiha should be dead. The traditions claimed battles like these had to end in death in one side or both, but never on life to the two of them. Traditions claimed for blood and Mito was nothing but a traditional woman.

So when she took her kunai from her kimono and directed it through Madara’s heart, it was only her doing her duty. Though if she chose to take his eyes on a sealing scroll, that was solely her own will.

Those eyes were bigger threats than they ought to be and she knew that after this battle, Hashirama would never be able to achieve his prime again. If they ended up in the wrong hands – or the gods forbid, Tobirama’s – only chaos and problems would arise.

(She liked Tobirama, she truly did. They shared a lot in common, but he was a narcissistic man that thought he had the right to play with the laws of nature. If he had access to the eyes, she feared what destiny would come up with to make his people – _her people_ – pay for his sins.)

Mito decided to burn Madara’s – now finally deceased – body, as a precaution and as the traditions ordered, before heading to the wood pillars restringing the beast.

“You smell of the old folk. The ones that make offers and fear the gods.”

It shouldn’t surprise her that such a thing could speak, but it still made her wary. Not afraid, though. Never afraid.

“Tell me, child. If you fear the gods, why do you dare to face me?” Its voice was like the worst of the thunders with a tone of mischief. 

“You are not a god, foul creature. I have no reason to fear your rage.”

“Very well, then. But if you don’t mind, what do you plan on doing with someone else’s eyes?”

“Burning them may not be enough to get rid of something like this, so I have to appeal to other ways. Unfortunately, I do not have the scroll I need with me, for now, but the eyes will be gone as soon as I arrive home. It’s a deteriorating scroll. Nothing ever placed in it ever came back, from objects to people. And if you do not cease your ranting, I will find a way to seal you there, even if it means sealing me on it with you.”

The Kyuubi laughed. “You are an interesting one, woman. I shall hate every moment of imprisonment, but you have my respect as a human of resolve.”

Mito didn’t need its validation and neither did she care for it. She concentrated on the sealing process she needed to go through and ignored the beast facing her.

Later, when Tobirama finally arrived, there was no monster to be seen and Hashirama was still asleep, Mito sitting at his side with a new seal on her forehead.

He asked her where was Madara’s body. She said she had burned it out of respect for tradition. Tobirama looked displeased but said nothing. If he took his brother in his arms and vanished without bothering to see if she would follow, Mito didn’t mind. She had done the will of the gods and fulfilled the traditions, while making sure no curse would befall them for Tobirama’s dangerous curiosity.

The Kyuubi laughed from the seal on her forehead.

_You just have to outlast them._

The scroll was a small, non-threatening thing. It could be mistaken as a letter rather than a sealing scroll. It was all Mito needed.  
Uchiha Madara’s eyes were never seen again.

The day of her wedding was a happy one. Hashirama was a good and caring man and the village was in the mood for party after all the initial tension. Booze and food was always a great way to unite people.

Tobirama wasn’t able to complain about the papers on a resurrection jutsu he had been working on that had gone missing. It was his brother’s engagement and he deserved a day to celebrate.

He couldn’t find the papers that day. At night, when Mito looked at a little scroll by her bedside, she knew he never would.

Tobirama’s papers continued to disappear. He never found them again. 

(He tried to blame the Uchiha for some reason, but Hashirama was able to stop his nonsense. Mito realized she liked him less each day.)

With war upon them, Hashirama and the others were at the front lines, battling the enemies. Mito wasn’t allowed to participate.

_Too dangerous,_ they said, _the jinchuriki must be safe._

_The woman wouldn’t be able to hold her own in a fight,_ they thought – because at the same time they believed in that, no one had the courage to tell her that to her face.

(Men were always a contradicting thing. Stupid, most of them.)

Regardless, Mito learned to placate her fury and enjoy the opportunity given to her. While the men fought a war, she was raising the children. And she was going to raise them _right._

She taught them the traditions, the legends and the price of their actions. Made them learn to respect, to grow and to thrive. Explained to them the norms, the concept of equity and the cycle of life.

Mito visited compounds and talked to mothers, entered the civilian part of the village and recognized them as worthy of her respect. She acted as the leader the people not fighting a war knew none of the fighters could ever be.

She did play favorites, though. How could she not? Tsunade was only three but already so full of promise. Brilliant, implacable little thing, so ready to shine. Mito refused to let anyone – _any men_ – tell her granddaughter she couldn’t be better than them.

“I want a story, grandmother!”

“And a story you shall have. Have you ever noticed these papers on by buns? How the words there don’t look like any of the ones you’ve seen before? That’s because-”

“You already told that one! It’s the language of the woman before you! You said you’re going to teach me when I’m good enough at reading.” Tsunade smiled, ready to show how eager she was for that day to arrive. “You also told me about the diamond in your forehead and the monster.”

“Oh well, then. I think I’m going to have to think about another one.” Mito had something in mind from the beginning, but this was her own way of teasing her granddaughter. She smiled. “I have one for you. Once upon a time-“

“I don’t want a fairy tale!”

“It is not a fairy tale, I promise. Now if you let me continue.” Tsunade settled back on her bed, embarrassed. “Very well. Once upon a time, I saw god and the devil dancing in the land of the sun.

“The god was hopeful they could dance for the rest of their lives, but the demon knew they could never do that. They were too different and their ideas of what was good crashed with each other.”

“Why were they dancing? If they disagree they can discuss. Or fight.”

“Discussions were never something they were good at, and they loved each other too much to fight. So they danced and danced and danced and danced. From dawn to dusk, until both were too tired. In the end, the god was the only one still standing. But let me tell you a secret.”

Mito inclined her head towards the kid, who eagerly raised her face, eyes big with curiosity.

She whispered. “The god was too good of a soul to dare to make the devil dance to complete exhaustion, even when destiny decided to place them on opposite sides of the dance. He carries the weight of what he thinks he did with him to this day, but it was not his fault. The god was never the one to truly exhaust the devil.”

Tsunade whispered back, on a tone even quieter than hers. “Then what exhausted him?”

Mito smiled.

“I did.”

Two wars later, Hashirama was dead and Tobirama’s legacy was far worse than it was great. He would be proud of it, and that was part the problem. And as a last, stupid wish, he nominated a twenty year old child to be a leader he could never be at this age.

When she made her decision, people said she had no right. _You can’t leave_ , they exclaimed, _the monster is ours. Not yours._

_I was the one to secure it and besides, we are allies, almost sisters,_ she answered, _but maybe you want to start another war. Break the alliance._

No one could change her mind. No one dared to stand in her way for long.

It didn’t mean they weren’t complaining. Millions of meetings were held and thousands of arguments were raised and hundreds of accords were suggested and all the leaders objected. But none of them wanted to risk what it meant to tell her no – what it would result into.

When she made her decision, people came to ask to join her. All the mothers and children and civilians she talked to, and their husbands and cousins that were once fighting a war they saw no reasoning behind.

There was more commotion, of course. Threats, promises, people shouting it was a betrayal. But separations were something that existed since the beginning of the clans and the village was yet too new to actually have a policy regarding a situation like that one.

They were trying to fight a lost war.

So when Mito left to Uzushio along her children and grandchildren, part of Konoha left with them.

And they would never look back.

(Tradition claimed that by being blessed by the gods, it was the Uzumaki’s duty to protect those who followed them and destroy those who tried to stop them. And Mito was nothing but a traditional woman.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just really mad that we have basically nothing on Mito in the manga and I feel like she deserves so much more
> 
> Anyway english is not my first language, so let me know if you catch any mistakes.
> 
> The title comes from a brazilian poem called "Caleidoscópio Cinemascope" by Chacal


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